How to avoid and prevent bad breath throughout the day?
Did you know that one in four people suffer from bad breath? Make sure you’re not one of them with our tips…
There are many ways to prevent bad breath creeping in, whether it’s in the morning or towards the end of the day. Don’t let something like bad breath cause you stress and interfere with your life. Find some quick fixes that work for you!
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What causes bad breath?
Nobody wants whiffy breath, but the sheer volume of food and drink travelling through our mouths daily means that a quarter of us suffer from it. Nailing your oral hygiene is essential, because bad oral hygiene allows bacteria to build up and produce unpleasant smelling gasses.
While food and drink is an obvious cause of bad breath with very strong, sugary or flavorsome types leading to more chance than others, there are multiple reasons for having bad-smelling breath. Medically known as halitosis, it can be largely caused by diet and certain medical conditions.
Other factors of bad breath could include having a dry mouth, smoking and illness. But there are plenty of other avoidable causes and simple solutions, so read on for guaranteed fresh-breath confidence.
12 easy ways to avoid and prevent bad breath
1. Be brushing savvy
The leading cause of bad breath is bacteria on and between your teeth, tongue and gums, so sort that first.
Brush your teeth and gums last thing at night and first thing in the morning for two full minutes (all Oral-B electric toothbrushes have timers, so you don’t have to worry about clocking this yourself). And always use a fluoride toothpaste – such as Oral-B Pro-Expert Deep Clean – for best results.
2. Don’t forget flossing
Brushing alone only cleans the surface of your teeth, not the food that gets stuck between them, so floss between your teeth or use interdental brushes daily to make sure you remove any food that could get stuck and cause problems.
3. Treat your tongue
A tongue scraper is a smart idea, because another common reason for bad breath is a ‘nasal drip’, which coats the back of your tongue with bacteria. Tongue scrapers remove these nasties.
4. Refresh your rinsing
Then finish off with a rinse: recent research proves that mouthwash helps to reduce levels of bacteria and chemicals that cause a nasty whiff. Mouth rinses kill bacteria thanks to antibacterial agents like chlorhexidine and cetylpyridinium found in Oral-B Pro-Expert Deep Clean Mouthwash.
5. Chase some garlic
Garlic may taste delicious, but garlic breath is too real. Rather than opting for bland Bolognese, munch an apple or some lettuce immediately after eating a garlicky feast.
Apparently, these foods beat garlic breath in two ways; first, enzymes help to destroy the odours, then phenolic compounds destroy the chemicals that create the bad breath.
So there’s no need to skip a goodnight kiss after an Italian dinner date – just order a side salad!
6. Stay well hydrated
Saliva is a natural antiseptic that breaks down food particles and stops bacteria growing in the mouth – making dehydration another major bad breath culprit. To produce enough saliva, you need to stay hydrated through the day, so sip water and herbal teas, but avoid alcohol.
7. Avoid mouth breathing
Another dry mouth cause is breathing through your mouth instead of your nose. It’s also worth knowing that certain medicines can limit how much saliva you produce, such as nitrates used to treat angina and some tranquillisers.
8. Try chewing gum
This will also help to keep your mouth from getting dry. Research shows that chewing a sugar-free cinnamon-flavoured gum for 20 minutes reduces bad-breath causing bacteria in the mouth thanks to natural antibacterial agents.
9. Chomp on crudités
Another way to build up saliva naturally is to eat water-rich crudités like carrot or celery sticks – they can help scrape out plaque build-up and boost saliva production.
10. Don’t light up
One of the causes of bad breath is smoking, which also stains teeth, irritates gums and causes loss of taste, so kicking the habit is important. Drinking too much alcohol can worsen stale breath, too.
11. Watch your weight
While being overweight has implications for overall health, trying to slim down by crash dieting, fasting or eating a restrictive low-carbohydrate diet is no good either. Extreme diets cause your body to break down fat, which produces chemicals called ketones that can be smelt on your breath. The key, then, is to stay at a healthy weight by eating a balanced diet.
12. Eat some probiotics
Bad breath can be linked to how healthy your gut is, because an imbalance between good and bad bacteria can cause an unpleasant smell. Eating traditional yoghurt – a food that contains probiotics – can reduce the harmful bacteria that causes bad breath.
Do you find Oral-B helps you to combat bad breath?